The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for verifying that a message has been transmitted to or received by an intended recipient. In particular, the present invention relates to the manner in which the message sender can access verification information.
Paging systems are well known. Generally, a sender accesses a message center and identifies the intended recipient of a message. The sender then provides a message to the center and the message is stored for subsequent transmission. The center then transmits the message to the intended recipient. In a one-way messaging system, such as in one-way paging, there is no way to determine if the recipient has received the message. At best, the message center or paging terminal can monitor whether the message has been transmitted. In a two-way messaging or paging system, two different types of acknowledgment may be received by the message center. First, a network acknowledgment may be received. A network acknowledgment signal indicates that the recipient's pager has received the transmitted message. A second level of acknowledgment may be desirable where the recipient's terminal, for example, a pager transmits a message back to the message center when the recipient has accessed the message thereby providing a "read acknowledgment" to the message center.
It is desirable to provide the message sender with the capability of determining whether a message has been sent and received by the intended recipient.
A number of techniques for such message verification are known in the prior art. Verification techniques are provided in U.S. Pat. No. 5,224,150 and, U.S. Pat. No. 5,473,667 both to Neustein and U.S. Pat. No. 5,519,718 to Yokev et al. In the two Neustein patents, both related to paging, the message sender also has a paging device and is apprised of the transmission of the paging message because when the center transmits the message it sends it to both the intended recipient and the sender. When the sender receives the message this indicates to the sender that the message has been sent to the intended recipient. In the patent by Yokev et al. the messaging center places a return call to the message sender after the message has been sent and a pre-recorded message is played to notify the sender of the receipt of the message by the recipient.
In another known configuration the messaging center automatically assigns a message ID number to each received message. The message center then announces that message ID number to the message sender at the time the message is provided to the message center. The message sender is then advised to use the message ID to later request verification of receipt of the message by the intended recipient.
All of these known techniques for message verification have shortcomings. With regard to the first system disclosed in the Neustein patents, the message sender must have their own pager to be able to receive notice that the message has been transmitted to the intended recipient. In the system disclosed in the Yokev patent, the sender must be available at a particular location to receive the call-back information. In the system where the message center assigns a message ID, the message sender must memorialize that ID and retain that information until such time as he or she attempts to verify receipt of the message. All of these techniques make message verification a more difficult and awkward operation for the message sender. It is desirable to provide a more user-friendly technique for verifying the receipt of messages by an intended recipient.